Americans Want Policymakers to Act on Housing Affordability

Nearly four out of five Americans agree that the country is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis and that officials at all levels of government are not doing enough to address this vital issue, according to a survey conducted by the polling firm Morning Consult on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

“As the nation celebrates National Homeownership Month, this survey is a sobering reminder that Americans are calling on policymakers to ease burdensome regulations, roll back inefficient zoning rules and provide builders and developers with the proper business climate so that they can construct more homes and apartments to provide our citizens with better homeownership and rental housing opportunities,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom home builder from Wichita, Kan.

The survey found that 77% of the respondents reported a housing affordability crisis in the communities where they live. Eighty percent said their city and county officials were not doing enough to encourage the production of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income households and 51% said their elected representative to the U.S. Congress is doing too little to address housing affordability at the national level.

NAHB has put out a 10-point plan to tackle the nation’s housing affordability challenges by outlining initiatives that can take place at the local, state and federal levels to help builders increase the nation’s housing supply and bend the housing cost curve. The poll, which cuts across partisan, regional, demographic and socio-economic lines, found solid support for many of these proposals. Among its key findings:

• 80% said policymakers should factor in housing affordability when considering new laws and regulations.
• 74% said government should provide incentives to builders and developers to create more housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income households.
• 65% would support replacing the mortgage interest deduction with an annual tax credit for mortgage interest that can be widely claimed by middle-class home owners.
• 64% support incentivizing local governments to ease zoning regulations that prevent the construction of more affordable housing.
• 56% said that it is important to create more medium-density housing that is affordable to moderate-income households, younger households and first-time home buyers.

“In this pivotal election season, voters are showing that housing is a critical American issue that transcends party politics,” said Harris. “With a nationwide shortage of 1.5 million housing units, the American people are demanding that their elected officials put in place policies that will enable builders to increase the production of sorely needed housing. This poll should be a wake-up call for officials to act now because they may find it could be too late come November.”

This national online survey of 20,041 adults was conducted April 16-23, 2024 by Morning Consult. It has a margin of error of ± 1%.